


Underdogs

by FuckYeahChilton



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Developing Relationship, Ed is a rich kid, Friendship/Love, Gotham is Gotham, M/M, Male Slash, Male-Female Friendship, Nygmobblepot, Oswald is gutter trash, Selina and Ed are best friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-29
Updated: 2016-10-20
Packaged: 2018-04-11 22:09:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4454219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuckYeahChilton/pseuds/FuckYeahChilton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The streets of Gotham City, not a good place for rich kid Edward Nygma. Or is it exactly the place where he belongs? His future and escape from his family is already planned, but how will the brief encounter with street kid Oswald Cobblepot influence his life? (Alternative Universe but still Gotham---Most characters around 19~ 20 years old.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Edward Nygma

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everybody~~ Don't worry, I have NOT forgotten my other Nygmobblepot story, new chapter comes soon! I just had an idea for a new story (because the other won't go on forever) and I needed to write the first chapter down before I forget it =D. Wanna read more? Let me know =D

 

 

 

***Chapter 1***

 

 

It was late at night, when a knock at the door distracted the young Edward Nygma from his work.  
“Come in.”, he mumbled, still focused on the dead frog’s organs he was inspecting through a microscope.  
He heard the squeaking sound of the door slowly being opened, but didn’t turn his head to look who it was. He knew it.  
“It is almost midnight, what are you doing? Homework?”, his mother asked, sounding more reproachful than curious.  
“No...”, Ed answered, still not looking up. “Do you know what is fascinating about frogs?”, he asked and now his mother spotted the dead, slaughtered animal.  
“No and I don’t want to! Get that disgusting thing out of the house, Edward, and go to bed! Why can’t you have a normal hobby like your friends? Ah, I forgot.. you don’t have any and I am not even wondering anymore.”  
“I am almost 19, you don’t have to send me to bed anymore.”, Ed said dryly.  
“As long as you are living under my roof, you do what your mother says.” With those words, she left her son alone and stomped away.  
Ed sighed and was about to put the frog’s remains into a little plastic box, as he suddenly heard the light sound of fingernails, tapping against his window.  
His sad face suddenly brightening up, he left his room and hurried into the kitchen to get a pack of milk.  
He ignored his mother, who was sitting at the table, wearing an ugly, magenta-colored bathrobe and watching him intensely.  
“What do you want with all that milk?”  
“Feeding the cats.”, he replied.  
“Cut a frog into pieces, but feeding those filthy street cats.. Don’t touch them; I don’t want fleas in this house.”  
Ed said nothing and hurried to get back into his room.  
He lived with his parents in a huge apartment at the top of a building in the richest district in Gotham City.  
The good thing was the fire escape ladder he could reach through his window, and he could be reached from outside as well.  
Ed opened the window and breathed in the fresh late-September air.  
His eyes needed a moment to get used to the darkness and when he climbed out, he couldn’t see his late night visitor at first, but he knew she was there, hiding in a dark corner like always.

“Hey kitten.”, he greeted and with a jump, the so-called kitten exposed herself.  
“Told ya not to call me that.”, the young girl, dressed in dark, shabby leather clothes, snapped.  
She tried to make herself bigger than she was, but then she smiled and Ed smiled back, handing over the milk.  
“Thanks, Eddie.”, she said and made herself comfortable on the cold iron grid.  
“Don’t call me that.”, he countered and she grinned.  
Ed watched his secret friend swigging down the milk, as if she hasn’t had anything for days.

This weird friendship with the girl named Selina Kyle had started about six months ago.  
Ed caught her in the act, when she tried to break into his parent’s apartment, but instead of calling the police, he let her in and gave her food and some stuff his parents wouldn’t miss anyway, to sell on the streets.  
From that day, she started visiting him.  
Never for long and sometimes he didn’t hear from her for weeks, but she was the only person he liked to have around.  
“I was watching you.”, Selina said, when her urgent thirst was satisfied.  
“Thanks for the frog.”, Ed said, sitting down next to her.  
“I knew you would love it.”  
Both started laughing at the same time and Ed felt his body relaxing.  
It was so easy to feel good when Selina was around; she never made him feel weird.  
“It’s good to see you.”, he said.  
“And it gets better. I have good news! I think I finally found the perfect place.”  
Ed knew immediately what she was talking about.  
“Tell me!”, he said excitedly.  
“Okay. It is an old warehouse and it has a basement. The door was locked, but the key was just lying in front of it, on the floor! I’ve been watching this place for 2 weeks now and no one ever walked in or out or even by. Two rooms, one for you, one for me. I show you tomorrow, if you want.”  
“That sounds perfect!! Now I finally get my secret lab!”  
“And no one can ever tell you again when to put the frogs away.”, she winked with a smile and Ed leaned forward to give her a stiff hug.  
“You are the best kitten in the world.”, he said.  
“Cat!”, she replied but giggled.  
“Gotta go. But see you tomorrow! Three o’clock at the diner?”  
“I will be there.”  
“I will be hungry!”, she announced and Ed nodded with a wide smile on his face.  
“Dinner is on me.”  
“Good night, big brother.”, Selina said softly and kissed him on the cheek, before she vanished into the darkness, without making a sound.

Ed sighed and decided to stay outside a little longer.  
He watched the lights of the city that looked so peaceful and pretty from his place and listened to the familiar sound of shouting people and gunshots in the distance.  
Though he has never been really out on the streets of Gotham, he wasn’t scared.  
He was curious what kind of life was waiting for him out there, as soon as he would have freed himself from this hell of a so-called family.  
Even if he barely knew Selina Kyle, she already was more like family than his real one had ever been.  
He knew she was an orphan child, living on the streets, but it felt like having a little sister with her in his life.  
Also he worried about her..  
Winter was close and she needed a place where she would be safe from the cold.  
This basement she found sounded perfect and he couldn’t wait to see it.  
What he was able to do at the university wasn’t enough for his curious mind, he wanted his own lab where he could do whatever he wanted and thanks to his stupid parents, he had been able to safe enough money to buy the equipment he needed.  
He was still young, but he would be finished at the university next year and could finally call himself a real scientist and look for a real job and with his own money, he would rent a small apartment and though he knew Selina preferred to be free and on her own, the door would always be open.

The next day, Ed jumped into his car after leaving the university and drove directly to the diner.  
Because parking lots were almost impossible to find in Gotham City, he took the first opportunity and decided to walk the rest.  
It was only two blocks away from the place where he would meet Selina Kyle and it was a rare, sunny day.  
Not able to hide his unusual brightly mood, he walked down the street and didn’t see the boy, darting out of the shadows of a back alley, bumping right into him.  
Surprised by the sudden impact, Ed lost balance and flopped on the ground.  
When he realized what had happened, he saw the other one also on the ground and the bunch of paper he carried spread all over the pavement.  
Taking a closer look, the boy wasn’t quite a boy anymore; he was just very small, but probably around the same age.  
He was wearing a black zip-hoodie over a white, large t-shirt with a penguin printed on and ripped, washed out jeans combined with dirty, damaged sneakers.  
A few pitch-black strands of hair were falling into his pale face; the rest of it was covered by the hood.  
Ice-blue eyes, framed with dark circles stared at him in some state of a shock, as blood started running from his nose, causing Ed to wake up.  
“I..I’m sorry, I didn’t see you, are you okay?”, he stuttered and wanted to help the guy to get back on his feet, but his opponent flinched.  
“Don’t touch me..”, he hissed and Ed froze.  
“But..you are hurt.. You’re bleeding..”, he worried.  
“I’m okay..”, the stranger mumbled and looked around. “Damn…”  
He just realized all his papers were lying around and passengers just stomped over them, as if they were garbage.  
“I help you.”, Ed pointed out hastily, starting to collect some of them, automatically looking at the content.  
All of the papers in his hands had information about different, rare kinds of diseases and also lists with addresses of specialists.  
“Are you sick?”, he just asked without thinking about it.  
The other guy looked up, his eyes wide open. “Keep moving!”, he snarled.  
He picked up what was left from the rest in a hurry and Ed pulled something out of his pocket, hiding it between the sheets and handed them over to the angry little man.  
“Sorry..”, he said as the stranger ripped the sheets out of his hands, turned around and limped away as fast as he could.  
Ed looked around, if he had lost something and spotted a black wallet.  
One look inside and he knew that it belonged to the other guy, so he hurried into the same direction.  
“Hey!”, he shouted out loud, but the small figure had already vanished in the crowd.

Ed let out a frustrated noise and turned around to head straight to the diner.  
From afar, he could already see Selina waiting impatiently, arms crossed in front of her chest.  
“I said three o’clock!!”, she yelled across the street and Ed walked faster.  
“Sorry, Cat. I couldn’t find a place to park.”, he excused himself breathlessly.  
Being called 'Cat' instead of kitten softened her features and she smiled.  
“It’s okay. Let’s go, I am starving.”

 

 

 

 

***

 


	2. Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wohoo I am so happy I have 2 people interested in this story and therefore here's the next chapter!! I hope it is not too messed up with grammar mistakes because it is late and I am so tired but I wanted to update one more chapter before I focus on my other story again =) ..Hopefully have fun~

 

 

 

Chapter 2

 

 

 

While Selina Kyle was enjoying her double beef burger with extra cheese, French fries and a huge vanilla milk shake, Edward Nygma, -sitting on the opposite of the table-, hasn’t touched his food yet and played absentmindedly with the little wallet.  
“If you don’t hurry, I’ll eat yours as well.”, Selina said and took a huge sip from her milk shake.  
Ed looked up as if he just woke up from a dream and looked at her with a puzzled expression.  
“Eat. Your. Food.”, Selina said, staring at him intensely.  
“I’m not hungry..”  
“Okay, what is wrong?”, she asked directly and leaned back, her big, bright eyes still focused on her friend.  
“Nothing is wrong. I just crashed with a guy on the way to the diner and I am wondering if he is okay, because he was bleeding but he vanished in the crowd.”, Ed explained and shrugged with a little smile.  
“Really? What did he look like?”, Selina leaned forward, elbows on the table, searching for eye contact.  
“Small… Black, spiky hair, blue eyes…cute face..”  
“That’s a lot of details. You sure you mean crash not crush?”, Selina teased with a wide smile on her face and enjoyed watching Ed’s cheeks flushing.  
“No. I just have a high functioning memory, you know that.”, he defended himself and crossed his arms in front of his chest.  
“I know, I know.”, she laughed. “If you hadn’t said cute face, I would say sounds like Penguin to me, but cute...naah.”, she giggled.  
“Oh, he had a penguin on his t-shirt. White..t-shirt.. You know I’m into details!”, He said before she could start to make fun of him again.  
“Wait..his name is..”, Ed started, while fumbling the ID out of the wallet and read out loud. “Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot. Oh, that’s a nice name.”  
Selina choked on her milk shake and laughed.  
“That’s not a name, that sounds like it’s epidemic. Show me his photo.”, she ordered and Ed handed over the ID.  
“Oh my god that’s him!”, she squeaked, “That’s Penguin!! Is that his real name, are you kidding me??”  
She just couldn’t stop laughing but Ed didn’t quite understand what was so funny.  
“No surprise he killed his father.”, she giggled, “Ups, just a rumor, I don’t know if it’s true but now it would make sense.”  
“So you know him.”, Ed just pointed out and took the ID back.  
She suddenly stopped laughing and her expression turned very serious.  
“Yes I do. Do you want an advice?”  
“I don’t think so, do I?”  
“Bring this wallet back to where you found it, drop it and leave.”  
“But there is his address written on the back so I thought I bring it to his home later and ..you know.. just to check if he is alright.” Ed didn’t mention the papers on purpose.  
“No. Edward, you are not going there, just trust me and let it go. It’s not even him I am worrying about, but the people he’s with. Ever heard of Victor Zsasz and his gang? They are crazy!! His right hand Jerome was in Arkham Asylum three times!! You better pray that Penguin didn’t recognize your face, your family is one of the richest in Gotham.”  
“So what? You think they are going to kidnap me just because I am returning his wallet?”  
“I’m just worrying, Eddie… you wouldn’t survive a sec on your own on the streets and..”, she paused and looked down. “I don’t want you to get hurt, okay? You are my brother..”, she confessed silently and Ed smiled.  
“Don’t worry, kitten.. I am not doing anything stupid, I promise.”  
“Just..stay away from them, they are the worst.”  
Ed nodded, just to end this conversation.  
The truth was he just wanted to go there even more now that he knew he shouldn’t.  
He wouldn’t even mind to get kidnapped just to make his parents lose all their money.  
Selina might be thinking he couldn’t survive on the streets, but he had a brilliant mind. He would survive. His parents probably wouldn’t.  
Edward Nygma hated his life so much that he felt no fear to go out and just live whatever life was waiting for him.  
Well..as soon as he finished his studies, because his parents payed for the school…

 

Meanwhile, the young man named Oswald Cobblepot searched for an opportunity to get out of the crowd and turned into a little park, deciding to rest for a moment.  
He sat down on a free bench and looked through his damaged sheets, as something unfamiliar fell into his lap.  
It was a neatly folded, pale-green handkerchief with two letters stitched into the fabric.  
“E.N.”, he mumbled and now he tasted the coppery liquid on his lips, coming from his nose and pressed the handkerchief against it to stanch the flow of blood.  
The injury didn’t come from the crash with that guy, it just reopened because of the impact and Oswald got gradually used to it , so he barely felt the pain.  
He tilted his head back and just hoped his nose would stop bleeding soon, he had no time for this right now.  
Closing his eyes for a moment, he thought back to the guy who caused this trouble.  
He had the feeling he knew this well dressed young man from somewhere.  
Plaid dress pants, a neat button-up shirt with a tie, combined with a grey-greenish cardigan…He looked definitely too young to dress like that, Oswald thought, but if he had the money he would buy himself an elegant suit and walk around in nothing else, so he couldn’t blame anyone for dressing nicely.  
And he seemed to have manners; Oswald was one who always appreciated good manners.  
Thinking about that now he felt guilty because in fact it was his own fault; he should just keep in mind to always look into the direction he was running.

Oswald tested if the blood was still running, but it seemed okay now.  
He looked at the now ruined handkerchief and sighed.  
Such a considerate gesture and that in a city like Gotham, where no one cared about scums like him.  
Just with that thought, his mobile phone started vibrating in his pocket and he pulled it out to check who was calling.  
Seeing the name on the display made him rolling his eyes and he picked up.  
“Yes, Victor..”  
“Hello my little Birdy.” The caller sounded cheerful but Oswald knew he wasn’t.  
“I’m on my way, okay? I had a little incident..”, he explained.  
“Someone punched your face again? You sound..”, he made a dramatic break, “Nasally?”  
“No, but for the future it would help if you would finally give me a gun.”, Oswald hissed and Victor on the other side laughed.  
“We both know what happened the last time you got a gun. I have something better, so move your tiny ass over here; I have a job for you.”  
Oswald ended the call without saying good bye and took a deep breath before he stood up.  
The handkerchief still clutched in his shaky hand, he headed straight to his home first, to throw his collected documents into the mailbox before he jumped into a cab to get to the meeting as fast as possible.  
The last thing he wanted to experience today was a pissed Victor Zsasz.

When he arrived at the closed, half rotten playground, where they used to meet now and then, Victor was already waiting.  
He was sitting on a squeaking, rusting roundabout and watching him go round and round made Oswald feeling dizzy, as he finally stopped and jumped off.  
“Wohoo.”, he said, trying not to lose balance, and laughed. “I love that thing.”  
Oswald didn’t feel like laughing, but he tried anyway even if it was too obviously faked.  
He looked around and spotted another familiar face.  
“Jerome. Welcome back from Arkham.”, he greeted with a nervous laughter, but the red haired guy just kept swinging and staring, without saying anything.  
“Yes..yes, I missed you too.”, Oswald said more to himself and looked up as Victor stopped right in front of him.  
“Since you’re the one with the most talented tongue, you will meet with our new business partners. They have the money, we have the drugs. The bad news are, they don’t want to pay enough, but I am sure you will find a way to make them change their minds, right?”, he smiled brightly but his eyes were cold as ice.  
“Are you out of your mind? They are going to kill me and take the stuff without paying anything.”  
“That’s why I have a surprise for you. Come out!”

A tall, well covered guy stepped out of the shadows.  
“This is Butch. He is your new toy. Have fun with him.”  
“He looks like a giant, human version of Winnie the Pooh, how should that protect me from the drug mafia?”, Oswald asked and Victor looked disappointed about the reaction.  
“He is trained. You will see. And..he is all you get. Oh and there’s one more thing.”, he said and dashed his fist into Oswald’s stomach, making him go down on his knees with a silent scream, bending over in pain.  
“This was for being late and now kiss my shoes.”, he demanded and Oswald, now trembling all over, was just about to do it, but the other man just kicked him away and laughed.  
“Good to know that you would. Remember that we have a deal. You do everything I want and I give you 10% of the profit. Now go and don’t disappoint me.”  
Zsasz whistled and Jerome jumped of the swing, following him without paying attention to Oswald, who was lying in the dirt, his body crouched together and shaking.

Butch watched the other two leaving and knelt down next to the man he was supposed to follow from now on.  
“Are you alright, little Boss?”, he asked kindly, a little worried even and Oswald looked up, his face still twisted with pain.  
He wasn’t sure if this guy was stupid or just looked like he wasn’t able to count to three, but at least he wasn’t on his own and the much taller man had this kind, loyal eyes, like a dog.  
Victor said he was trained..  
“What the hell did he do to you, Butch?”  
“He taught me.”, was the only answer he got to that and anyway, he didn’t really care as long as Butch was helpful.

 

***

 


	3. Cats and other issues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody!! Thank you so much for your motivation!!! I kind of have a flow with this story, so here is the next chapter! Hope you enjoy it =)

 

 

 

*** Chapter 3 ***

 

 

“We should get a better car.”  
Selina was half lying in the passenger seat, her feet dangling out of the opened window.  
“We? So now it’s ‘we’.”, Ed grinned.  
“Seriously, Nygma.. You could drive a Ferrari but you chose a junker..”  
“I like my car. It has personality.” Ed explained, gently caressing the top of the dashboard.  
“A little bit too much personality if you ask me.”, Selina giggled.  
“But I don’t ask you, kitten. Be grateful that we don’t have to walk. How far is it to your warehouse?”  
“Almost there!”, she warbled and wasn’t able to hide her excitement anymore. “You will love it!! Also we should park around here because the area is fenced. Hope you brought your climbing shoes.”  
Ed looked at her, eyes wide open.  
“I can’t climb a fence.”  
“You will learn.”  
“No..I won’t.”  
Selina grinned. “Just kidding. I cut a whole into it, especially for you.”, she winked.  
Ed exhaled with relief. “Thank you… And please don’t do that again..”  
“Yeah. Sure.”  
Ed parked the car and they walked the rest of the way.  
They were in a secluded area by the riverside of Gotham and the building really looked like no human being had been here for a long time.  
“You sure it’s not radioactive?”, Ed joked, while he looked around curiously and Selina laughed.  
“You tell me, Mr. Science.”  
“I’ll bring my Geiger counter next time.”  
“What’s a Geiger counter?”  
“If you are interested in science, I can teach you.”, Ed suggested but Selina shook her head and made a face.  
“Nah. I’m good. You are the brain and I am the muscle. Let’s keep it like that.”

Selina led Ed to a door at the back of the dirty stone building and showed him the way to the basement.  
“Careful.. the steps are dusty.”, she warned and pulled a little flashlight out of her pocket.  
Ed followed her through the dark hallway until they reached the door Selina was talking about.  
She opened it with a key and kicked the door open.  
“Home sweet home!”, she said and presented her discovery with a proud smile.  
Ed walked into the room and looked around.  
“This is just perfect. We need a portable power generator or something like that, a heater, light, this will be so cool!!”, he said with excitement.  
“Oh, check this out!”, Selina said and switched on the light. “No idea what dude left this place like this and is still paying the bills but whatever.”, she shrugged.  
“Why did we have to walk through the dark then?”  
“Just to keep it exciting.”  
Ed made a thoughtful face and after a moment of silence he said:  
“Maybe it is not connected to Gotham’s energy grid.. a private property with its own power source? This is exciting!”  
Ed peeked into the second room and seemed very happy with what his friend found.  
“You are right about getting a new car. I will rent a van so we can bring all the stuff we need. You should make a list and cut a bigger hole into the fence!”

 

A few hours later Ed was sitting in his car, hesitating whether to go out or just drive home.  
It was already an hour ago when he said good bye to Selina and let her out somewhere in Gotham.  
The warehouse was one point, but he had another on his list today that kept bothering him.  
Now he was parking in front of the house where Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot lived.

“You just want to give back his wallet, it’s no big deal.”, he encouraged himself and took a deep breath before he finally stepped out of the car and crossed the street.  
Luckily an old woman just wanted to enter the house, carrying shopping bags, and he hurried to help her with holding the door open, while he had a short look at the door bell name plates, but no Cobblepot to be seen. Instead there were two empty ones.  
“Thank you, young man.”, The old woman said, sounding like she had a lot of whiskey and cigarettes in her life, but obviously relieved and Ed smiled at her.  
“May I help you with the bags?”, he asked kindly and the woman seemed surprised.  
“You are not from Gotham, are you, dear?”, she asked and he decided to play along and shook his head, while he took the bags out of her hands and followed her upstairs.  
“I am looking for an old friend. He used to live here but I couldn’t find his name at the door..”  
“What’s his name? I live here my whole life, I probably know your friend.”  
“Oswald Cobblepot.”, Ed said and the woman looked up to him with an unreadable expression on her face.  
“That poor kid..”, she started, “Always in trouble, but he always has a heart for old ladies.”, she smiled.  
“I bet he will be happy to see an old friend.. He could use one. This is my door, here, give him this.”, she fished a chocolate bar out of one of the bags and handed it over to Ed.  
“Second floor, third door on the left.”  
“Thank you very much!”, Ed seemed truly happy about that information and waved good bye, before he made his way to the next floor.  
Now slightly nervous, he stopped in front of the door, straightened himself up to gain confidence and knocked.  
Nothing happened for a while so Ed decided to push the doorbell.  
Now he heard steps coming closer and noticed a motion on the other side of the peephole.  
“What do you want?”, a hoarse voice behind the still closed door wanted to know and Ed immediately recognized that it belonged to the guy he was looking for.  
“Guess.”, Ed just said and smirked.  
The other side was silent for a moment and then asked: “How do you know where I live?”  
“What do I have, what you want, that told me where you live?”, Ed said, secretly enjoying this little game and now the door slowly opened.  
The guy named Oswald Cobblepot was standing there with his mouth open to say something, but he just stared at his visitor and no words wanted to come to his mind.  
“What?”, he finally managed to say perplexedly.  
“Hi.”, Ed smiled, still not willing to give out the answer.  
Oswald wasn’t looking much different from when he saw him the last time, he just took off his hoodie and now his white penguin t-shirt was speckled with blood. Also he was pressing a washcloth against his temple.  
“What is black and white and red all over?”, Ed kept asking and Oswald looked even more confused now.  
“Are you..asking me a riddle?”  
“Do you like riddles?”  
“No?”  
“So you give up?”  
“What??”  
“It is actually a newspaper but in your case a stabbed penguin.”, Ed pointed at the t-shirt and Oswald slowly seemed annoyed.  
“Who are you?”  
“Edward.”, Ed just said, “I know who you are, Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot.”, he added with a sweet but superior smile.  
Before Oswald could say something to that, he just kept talking.  
“Did you know that male emperor penguins..”  
Oswald raised his hand to give a sign that Ed should stop talking now.  
“Okay..listen…”, he started, as a shadow darted out of the door and down the stairs.  
“Oh damn…”, Oswald grabbed his keys, closed the door and without paying attention to Ed anymore he hobbled after what appeared to be a black cat.  
“Cheesecake! Come back!”, he called after his pet and limped down the stairs on socks.

Ed just turned his head to look after Oswald and mumbled to himself: “Could have worked worse..”  
He decided to follow the other guy and on half of the way down, Oswald already came back.  
“Thank you, now I have to try find my cat because someone left the door to the backyard open.”, he hissed and jostled against Ed on purpose, as he walked by.  
“Then you probably should start looking in the yard?”, Ed suggested and Oswald yelled: “I NEED SHOES!”  
Ed blinked twice and decided to go down to look for the cat by himself.  
He felt a little bit guilty because of this and the least he could do was help getting the animal back.

Oswald hurried into his bathroom and put down the washcloth to look at his fresh wound.  
He made an angry noise because it looked really bad and didn’t want to stop bleeding, but for now he just covered it with a huge patch and slipped into his shoes hastily.  
“I swear I kill this guy if I don’t get my cat back..”, he whispered and rushed out of the door.  
The last time his cat ran away, it took a week until he finally found him between the garbage cans of a restaurant.  
He was just about to jump down the stairs, as he saw the tall, slender stranger coming back with a black ball of fur in his arms.  
Oswald froze in surprise and Ed smiled.  
“Cheesecake…How did you do that?”, he asked with relief and took the cat out of the other guys arms.  
“I don’t know why, but cats just love me.”, Ed explained.  
“Hey buddy..”, Oswald said to his little friend and kissed his nose. “Don’t run away, okay? Don’t do that to me again…”  
Cheesecake meowed and purred as his human hugged him tightly.  
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause trouble..”  
Oswald sighed.  
“Come with me and then you tell me what you want.”  
“What I want, the poor have, the rich need and if you eat it..”  
“NO riddles.. please. I am really not in the mood.”  
Ed hushed and looked a little bit disappointed, but followed Oswald into his apartment.  
He shut the door behind him and watched the black haired guy releasing his cat.  
“Nothing. I want nothing. I have something you might want back.”, Ed said and Oswald turned around, looking at him warily.

Finally Ed fished the wallet out of his pocket and presented it with both hands.  
“You lost this when we bumped into each other earlier. You were gone so fast so I thought better I come here to make sure you really get it back.”  
Oswald blinked with disbelief.  
“All the effort just to return my wallet?”, he asked and Ed shrugged.  
“Oh, and also your neighbor gave me chocolate for you.”, he added and handed both over.  
Oswald put aside the chocolate, checked if everything in his wallet was still there and exhaled.  
“I didn’t even notice it was gone.. Really, thank you. I wish I could offer you something in return but all I have is a can of tuna and I have to share that with Cheesecake so..”, Oswald looked a little bit helpless.  
His anger was gone and he really wanted to do something for this guy to show how grateful he was.  
Losing his wallet would have been a disaster.  
“Oh, you really don’t have to. What happened there?”, Ed asked, now noticing the patch on Oswald’s temple, that was drenched with blood by now.  
“Ah.. nothing.. It’s fine..”, Oswald downplayed his wound but Ed shook his head.  
“It looks really bad, may I have a look?”, he reached out a hand but Oswald took a step back.  
“I’m fine, really. You should go now.”  
“It’s actually bleeding very strong, you probably need stitches..”  
“What are you? A doctor?”, Oswald snapped though Ed’s worried expression made it hard for him to be angry.  
“No, but I could drive you to a hospital..”  
“No time for that. I have to be at work in two hours. They fire me if I am late again.”  
“But if you collapse you won’t be able to go at all… Let me help you, I have some knowledge and some tools at home, I could do it.” Ed suggested and Oswald hesitated.  
On the one hand that guy was right, he already started feeling dizzy, but on the other hand.. He was a complete stranger.  
“Feed your cat and then come with me. I can make you a sandwich at my place.”, Ed smiled and finally Oswald gave up.  
“Oh, I would kill for a sandwich.”

 

 

***

 

 


	4. Wrecked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late night writing flash... I hope you enjoy =)

 

 

 

***Chapter 4***

 

 

 

“Cheesecake..”, Ed started, while they were driving to his home, “What an unusual name for a cat.”  
Oswald, who had been silent so far, watched his driver from the corner of his eye.  
“I found him together with his brothers and sisters in an empty cheesecake box. He was the only kitten who survived.. so I took him home.”, he explained and Ed smiled.  
“It’s a cute name.”, he pointed out but Oswald didn’t react.   
He seemed tense while looking out of the window and started biting his kind of dirty looking fingernails.  
“Don’t worry, you will be in time for work.”, Ed assured and Oswald turned to him.  
“Why are you doing this? Do you even know who I am? Who are you anyway??”  
So many questions, Ed thought, and wondered what made this guy such a nervous wreck.  
“You need help and I have no plans for this evening, so I help you. Is that so weird?”  
“This is Gotham, believe me, it is.”  
“People often call me weird.”, Ed said and shrugged.  
“Never said you are weird. But this situation is.”, Oswald corrected and slowly relaxed a little.  
This Edward guy didn’t seem dangerous and though he was far from being able to trust anyone, he wanted to believe that he really just wanted to help him.  
“You don’t want to tell me what happened? It’s not from our crash earlier, right?”  
Oswald sighed.  
“No it’s not. My face made acquaintance with a baseball bat.”, he said dryly and watched out of the window again, now realizing that they have made it to the better parts of Gotham City by now.  
“You should report this to the police.”, Ed said seriously and looked at Oswald when they had to stop at a traffic light.   
Oswald looked back at him, looked into his brown, concerned looking eyes and snorted with laughter.  
Ed’s expression turned into confusion, what made him just laugh even more until his face hurt so bad that he had to force himself to stop.  
“Listen to yourself, silly.”, he said and Ed blushed.   
He even forgot to pay attention to the traffic, as a honking fest behind his car signalized him to keep driving.  
“Glad that I could make you laugh.”, Ed said eventually, now sounding a little bit annoyed as well.  
He just tried to help and somehow worried about this guy he was supposed to stay away from.  
But for some reason he didn’t want to stay away from Oswald Cobblepot and now he made a fool of himself in front of him..  
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry..”, Oswald said to defuse the situation and tried to look serious again.   
In fact there was nothing funny about it at all.  
Ed didn’t react and focused on the street, though he actually really preferred to see his co-driver with a happy face.  
“Hey..Come on. I didn’t mean to laugh about you. But you really should have seen your face. All serious and stuff. I didn’t laugh in quite a spell so.. thank you for that.”  
Ed peered at him but then his features softened again.  
“It’s fine. I just really don’t like when people make fun of me.”  
“Then we have at least that in common.”, Oswald said, his voice softer now.   
Both men exchanged glances and even if they were obviously living on two different planets, for a second, they felt equal.

“Are people calling you Penguin because of your T-Shirt?”, Ed wanted to know and Oswald made a face.  
“Guess.”  
“So, I guess not? Why are you wearing it then?”  
“I don’t know, …sarcasm?”  
“I like penguins. They are endearing. It’s a good name for you.”, Ed said and in that moment he realized that he just made him a compliment that he’d rather kept to himself.  
“Here we are.”, he added hastily, feeling heat rising in his cheeks, and parked the car on a spot that was especially reserved for him.  
Oswald decided to pretend he hadn’t noticed that Edward indirectly said he is endearing and stepped out of the car, looking around curiously.  
“Who are you? The head of Wayne Enterprises?”, he asked and Ed hesitated to say the truth but on the other hand.. Getting kidnaped was still an option he would probably prefer to what his life was now, so..  
“Edward ..Nygma..”, he confessed, almost shyly.  
Oswald’s eyes were widening.  
“I knew it! I knew your face looked familiar!”, he said with excitement and before Ed could reply to that, it started raining out of a sudden.  
“Let’s go inside..?”, he suggested and Oswald followed him.  
In the elevator, with every floor they passed, he slowly realized what it could mean for him, that he had bumped into one of the richest sons in Gotham City.  
If he was clever, this acquaintance could probably be the end of all of his problems…

“My parents won’t be back before Sunday, so you don’t have to worry about them..”, Ed assured as they reached the top and walked to the apartment door.  
“Oswald?”, Ed called his companion again, who looked like he was daydreaming.  
“What? Yeah, yeah, cool.”, the other man replied quickly and forced a smile.  
They entered the huge apartment and Ed led him directly to his room, but from what Oswald could see, they must have a lot of money.  
When he stepped into Edward’s room, it felt like entering a different world.  
The interior from the hallway and what he was able to see from the living room was clean, rich but minimalistic, almost cold. Everything in black, white and silver.  
Edward’s room was nothing like that.   
The wallpaper was greenish with a retro-print, the floor was wooden. The furniture was dark brown and there was a lot of weird stuff, like a radio from a different century, tons of books about science and things like autopsy, an old crt tv with video games lying in front of it and lots of tools normal people might consider creepy.   
“Nice room.”, Oswald pointed out and Ed smiled at him.   
“Thank you. You can make yourself comfortable on the bed; I will get everything I need to sew you together again.”, he rubbed his hands and suddenly seemed more excited than he should.  
Oswald sat down on the huge bed that fitted perfectly into the room and let his fingertips run over the silky, dark green sheets but when he noticed how dirty his hands looked, he felt almost guilty touching it.  
He remembered a time when he slept in such comfortable bedding and hastily shook his head to dispel the nostalgic thoughts.  
That time was long gone and would never come back. It would never be like those days again.  
Luckily Edward already came back and distracted him from regretting bygone times.

“First we have to clean the wound.”, Ed started, “I don’t have anything professional to deaden the pain but I think ice cubes could help.”, he explained and sorted everything on the nightstand.  
“Let me have a look first.”, he said and reached out a hand to remove the patch, but Oswald flinched again, eyes fixed on a random point in the room.  
“You have to let me touch you, otherwise I can’t help you..”  
When Oswald didn’t react, Ed snorted.   
“Give me your hand.”, he ordered.  
“Why?”, the other man asked, still not able to look at him.  
“Just do it.”  
Oswald hesitated but took Ed’s hand in his eventually.  
“Now close your eyes…”  
“No.”  
“Please..?”  
Ed watched his guest fighting with himself until he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.  
He covered his hand with both hands now and just waited until he slowly relaxed a little.  
“Now open your eyes again..”, he said quietly.  
Oswald followed the friendly order and looked at Edward, still not sure what to think about this.  
“And now?”, he asked and swallowed.  
“Now you decide.”  
“Decide what?”  
“What I am going to do.”  
Oswald blinked slightly confused but then looked into Edward’s warm, friendly eyes.  
“You are going to fix me..”, he said after a while and Ed smiled, emphasizing his decision with a short nod.  
“I can’t say I am not going to hurt you, because it will probably hurt but I can promise I will be as careful as possible.”  
“Okay.., let’s get over with this.”, Oswald finally said and Ed placed a pillow on his lap, signalizing his patient to place his head there.  
Oswald kicked off his shows, turned around to lie down and started biting his nails again as Ed carefully peeled off the patch.  
“I’m cleaning the wound now, you better close your eyes.”, he commented and as Oswald did so, he started with cleaning it from the blood and then disinfected the now good visible laceration, what made the other man twitch.   
“Shh.. It is not that bad…”, Ed tried to calm him and carefully stroked a few strands of black hair out of the way.  
Oswald nodded and the next moment he felt something cold and wet at his temple, what must have been the ice-cubes.  
“I hope that’s enough.. now..”  
“Edward? Please stop the running commentary.. Just..tell me when it’s over.”, Oswald murmured and Ed nodded.  
“Alright. Sorry.”

Oswald noticed the needle piercing through his flesh and a tear ran from the corner of his eye, along his nose and vanished into the fabric of the pillow.  
But not because of the stitches..   
All he felt was the gentle touch from this stranger; how his fingertips caressed the healthy skin around his wound now and then, how he stroked his hair to distract him from the pain..  
He wasn’t used to people treating him kindly anymore and it felt so good that it almost hurt.

The pain faded but those gentle fingers kept running through his hair over and over.  
“Where do you work?”, a soft voice asked in the distance and Oswald mumbled: “The Ocean..”

Ed watched his guest slowly dozing off and sighed while he kept playing with his pitch black hair.  
“The Ocean” was a high class seafood restaurant, not far from his home.  
If Oswald would appear like this, he sure would get fired..  
The little man looked so wrecked, Ed wondered when this guy had slept through the night the last time.  
His wound was treated now and Ed was really proud of what he did, considering that it was the first time he sewed a living human being together and not just a dead frog.  
“Oswald?”, he whispered, but his patient was already peacefully asleep.  
Careful not to wake him up, Ed crawled out of the bed and pulled the sheets over Oswald’s tiny body.  
“Sweet dreams..”, he whispered and tiptoed out of the room.  
He looked back but his guest hadn’t moved, so he switched off the light and closed the door silently.  
Whatever his job was, it couldn’t be too difficult for Ed to handle.

 

 

***

 

 


	5. Too good to be true

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello whoever is reading this~
> 
> I never noticed that I had this chapter half finished all the time and somehow never found the time to get back to this story, but my Nygmobblepot feels are on fire and I feel like finally picking this story up again =D
> 
> I hope you enjoy the new chapter =)

 

 

 

 

Chapter 5

 

 

 

Oswald Cobblepot woke up in a dark room that was definitely not his own bedroom.  
The bed was too comfortable and the blanket too soft.  
A dull pain in his head reminded him of earlier events and he forced himself to sit up straight, blinking the darkness away.  
The city lights painted the room in dim colors, but bright enough to make the silhouettes of the furniture visible.  
How long had he slept?  
The small man limped to the door and switched the light on, squeezing his eyes shut because of the sudden contrast.  
Still feeling a little dizzy and weak on his legs, he opened the door and peered into the hallway.

“Helloo?”, he asked into the silence, but the apartment was dead silent.  
Oswald walked back into the room he woke up in and was about to get his shoes, when someone knocked at the window impatiently.  
He winced and stumbled a few steps backwards, landing on the bed again, and stared at the window, his eyes wide open.  
He blinked twice and recognized Gotham’s most famous teen-pickpocket at the other side of the glass.  
“Cat..”, he said more to himself and hobbled to the window.  
She made a gesture with her hands to open up and he remembered that this Edward guy mentioned earlier that cats liked him.  
Now that statement got a whole new meaning and Oswald assumed it was safe to open because if she wanted to kill him, Edward would know it was her.  
He wouldn’t have stitched him together if he had wanted him to be dead so…

As soon as the window was open, the cat was inside, arms crossed in front of her chest and looking at Oswald with disgust.  
“What. The. Hell. Are you doing here?”, she asked, her bright eyes following his movements.  
“I guess I got invited.”, Oswald snapped back and Selina took a step forward.  
“Stay away from my friend.”, she warned and Oswald smiled.  
“Or?”  
“Or you will regret it. I’m serious. Ed is a good guy and I don’t want him anywhere near your psycho friends.”  
“Excuse me, do you see my psycho “friends” anywhere around?”, Oswald countered and Selina relaxed a little.  
“Whatever.”,she said defiantly and chewed on her lower lip.  
She had never had the chance to face Penguin like this before and with taking a closer look at the man that was barely taller than her, she could understand even less what Ed found so interesting about him.  
Maybe he was collecting gutter trash or something…  
Selina was aware that she wasn’t any better than the guy in front of her and that was the main reason she wanted him out and far away from her kindhearted friend with his damn rich parents.

Penguin was clever, or else, he would have been dead and gone already.  
She swallowed down the urge to say her concerns out loud, though. The last thing she wanted was giving Penguin ideas.  
“Look,..Cat..”, Oswald spitted out her name, “It was your friend who wanted me here and it is on him to decide if he wants me to stay away or not. Are we clear?”, he asked with a threatening undertone but Selina stayed unimpressed.  
“We will see. If you drag him into your shit, I’m going to kill you.”, she said plainly and shot him one last, intense look before she vanished through the window.

“Yeah.. try that, little girl.”, he mumbled while shutting the window and closing the curtains.  
Still sure he must have dozed off for only a few minutes, he started wondering what was taking Edward so long.  
Where did he go anyway?  
His rumbling stomach reminded him of the promised sandwich he hadn’t received yet.  
If he went to work starving, it would be a hell of a shift. He got caught once trying to eat some leftovers from used plates and the next time would cost him his job.  
Curious how much time he would have left, he pulled the cellphone out of his pocket to check the time and almost dropped it as he realized it was past midnight.

“Oh no..no no no..”, he stammered and slipped into his shoes as fast as he could.  
He darted out of the room and bumped right into Edward, leaving both men sitting on the ground again.  
“If this becomes our thing, I’m not sure if I like it.”, Ed mumbled and tried to ignore the pain in his ass since he was using his hands to protect the bags he was carrying from hitting the ground.

“Are you out of your mind??”, Oswald yelled, “Why did you let me sleep?? I..”, just now he realized where the bags in his opponents hands where coming from.  
“What have you done?”, he asked warily and noticed the delicious smell of food coming from the bags.

“I worked your shift.”, Ed smiled brightly, “And I brought dinner.” He held up his arm stiffly, waving with the bags.

“You…wha…why?” Oswald asked, obviously bewilderedly.

“You were hungry? I believe you still are.”

“Yeah, no, I mean the shift. Why did you do that for me? It is a lousy job…”

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad. I like doing new things. Besides, you really needed to rest. Do you feel a little better?”, Ed asked with a cute smile and Oswald nodded.  
“Yes, thank you. Still hungry, though..”, he confessed and his stomach agreed with a loud growl.

Ed stood up and offered his guest a hand to help him up. The smaller man accepted the help and nodded gratefully.  
“You can make yourself comfortable on the bed or couch as long as I arrange everything.”, he offered and walked into his room, followed by his guest.

“But..I…I don’t get it.. You don’t know me.. Why are you helping me? I have nothing to offer in return..so.. you won’t get anything out of this.”

Ed placed the bags on the table and was deep in thoughts for a moment.  
He didn’t know how to explain why he wanted to help this stranger. Why he cared about him at all..

“I think.. I just happen to enjoy your company.”, he finally confessed and turned his head to face Oswald.  
“Isn’t that enough?”  
Oswald felt himself blushing, but he didn’t look away.  
“I..guess..”, he replied quietly and Ed gave him a shy smile. He continued unpacking the food and Oswald sat down on the bed, watching him thoughtfully.

Was it really possible that after all this years he had finally met someone who just liked him for no reason?  
Before he could start to like that thought, he decided to change the topic instead.

“You had a visitor, by the way.”, Oswald said nonchalantly and Ed replied without interrupting his preparations: “Let me guess..”  
“You have an interesting choice of friends.”  
“Well.. She kind of..claimed me.”, Ed laughed.  
“You wanna get rid of her?”  
“Hell no. She is the closest to family I have. I bet she wasn’t happy to see you here..”  
“Not really, no.”  
“She is very protective towards me. I’m sorry if she insulted you or something.”, Ed said without looking at Oswald and thinking about what drink would fit to the dinner he ordered. “I think wine would be good.”, he decided out loud, “Be right back!”

Oswald watched the slender guy rushing out of the room and shook his head in disbelief.  
Being friends with a thief like Selina Kyle and letting a minor criminal like Oswald alone in his rich parents' home…  
Either that guy was crazy, suicidal or just too good to to be true…  
As Edward didn’t seem very happy with his parents, Oswald was wondering what could have happened that he chose an alley cat over his own family.  
But he understood why Cat appeared so protective towards him.  
He was like a baby-deer that was about to learn how to walk.  
If no one watched over him, he would fall..and it would hurt… 

“Which one do you prefer, red or white? Both are super expensive but I doubt my parents will miss one of them.”, Ed asked while holding two different bottles of wine up in the air.

“To be honest.. I would prefer a cup of tea.”, Oswald said, feeling a throbbing pain in his head and Ed looked a little disappointed for a second but then he remembered the shitty condition his new friend was in and smiled.  
“Tea it is.”, he agreed and vanished again.

Oswald stood up and hobbled to the table, inspecting the food.  
Three different sorts of pasta, decorated with seafood, lobster, fresh bread, salad…  
The delicious smell was familiar but usually he only got to scrub the leftovers off the plates.  
For a moment, Oswald considered being dead and in heaven but then, why would a guy like him end up in heaven..

“I hope Earl >Grey is alright?”

Oswald looked up and smiled at Ed, who was standing in the room with two cups of tea.  
“Perfect.”, he said and Ed smiled back at him.

“Please, sit down. I hope you like my choice. Usually I prefer to cook myself but by the time I would have been finished, you might have starved.”  
“It looks delicious. Though I’m getting curious about your homemade cooking now.”, Oswald said and sat down while Ed settled on the other side of the table and lighted a candle.

“Sorry, too cheesy? I like a nice atmosphere.”, Ed defended his action but Oswald shook his head with a smile and tears in his eyes.

“Did I say anything wrong?”, Ed worried and Oswald sniffed, his eyes still wandering over the beautiful food, so nicely decorated.

“Not at all. I just haven’t been in such a nice place with good food and kind company for a very long time. And I’m dressed like a hobo.”, Oswald spit out the last words and stared on his still empty plate.

“You look fine to me. Now eat, before it gets cold.”

“Thank you.”, Oswald smiled though he knew Ed was lying.  
His clothes were smeared with dirt and blood; there was no way to see something fine in them but he didn’t want to make a big deal of it and started to fill his plate with a bit from everything.

“Don’t be shy, Oswald. Eat as much as you like.”, Ed tried to motivate his guest but Oswald waved him off.  
“My stomach is not used to eat that much all at once.”

Ed sighed and started filling his own plate because he didn’t want to put his new friend under pressure.  
They were eating in silence, but it wasn’t an awkward atmosphere.  
Oswald was obviously enjoying his dinner, though he looked extremely exhausted and Ed started to feel a bit tired himself.  
It had started to rain and the pleasant sound of raindrops on the roof filled the silence.

When Oswald had finished his meal, he leaned back with a sigh and took a sip from his tea.  
He turned his head to look out of the window but instead of his reflection, he just looked at the curtains and thought back to his unpleasant encounter with Cat.  
Would she really cause him trouble?

“Ready for dessert?”, Ed asked with an endearing smile and shook Oswald out of his dark thoughts.

“You brought dessert?”, he asked warily and Ed nodded.

“I…should probably go.”, Oswald suddenly said and stood up.

“Why? What did I do?”, Ed asked, confusion written all over his face.

“Nothing, you did nothing. I just… I have a hard day tomorrow.”, Oswald excused his sudden change of plans and hobbled to the door.

“It is in the middle of the night.”, Ed said and stood up as well. “I could prepare the guestroom for you.”  
“No. You really did enough.”, Oswald said and forced a smile.

“Then let me at least drive you home.. I..”

“I’m fine!”, the smaller man interrupted and Ed huffed with frustration.

“But take this.”, he said and took something out of a closet what turned out to be a black umbrella. “It’s raining.”, he said and offered it for Oswald to take.

Oswald looked into Ed’s kind eyes for a while and gave up eventually.

“Thank you.”, he said and took the umbrella before he left the room and limped through the hallway.

“Oswald.”, Ed called after him and he turned around.

“Here.. Your dessert. And this is for Cheesecake.”, he said and handed over two smaller plastic bags.

Oswald thanked him with a short nod, obviously moved by the kind gesture.

“Thank you, Ed. For everything.”

 

 

***

 

 


End file.
